


Darian's Gift

by firephly



Category: The Secret of the Unicorn Queen - Josepha Sherman
Genre: Darian POV, End of Moonspell, F/M, Tearjerker, i'm not crying you're crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22281349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firephly/pseuds/firephly
Summary: Another ficlet from Darian's POV that falls at the end of the final book Moonspell.Darian begs Micula for help.
Relationships: Darian/Sheila McCarthy
Kudos: 2





	Darian's Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Originally Posted back in 2007 on LiveJournal, now here on AO3! Note: The text and dialogue surrounding Sheila and Dr. Reit is directly from the book Moonspell. Credit to Gwen Hansen.

"Micula...please?" Darian's voice caught with emotion. "I have to know that she's okay."

"You were never meant to travel to that grove." The sorceress frowned. "Let alone see a scrying pool."

"But I did. Sheila and I both did." Darian's hands clenched by his sides in frustration. "And Laric said we were welcome there," he added for good measure.

"That was Quiet Storm's decision, not mine or Laric's. It is not my place to violate our people's laws." She looked regretful.

"But-"

"However..."

Darian's head whipped up, his eyes hopeful.

"We can try something _here_. It might not work," she cautioned.

"Anything is worth a try."

Micula stood for a moment, deep in thought, and then nodded abruptly, stalking off towards the tree-line. The dark-haired woman held out a hand as she passed by her unicorn, and the ebony beast followed her unquestioningly into the forest. Darian found himself nearly running to keep up.

They walked for a long while until they came upon a small stream trickling its way through the trees. As the water curved around rocks and rises in the earth, it left several small areas of standing water, not completely dissimilar in size to the scrying pool where Darian and Sheila had watched Illyria from afar. Now, Darian could only hope that Micula could recreate that magic so he could see Sheila one last time.

She had left so abruptly that he felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest. He had to know if she was okay, that she had arrived home safely. Darian knew that his pain wouldn't completely fade at seeing her, knowing that she was no longer in his world. But he had to know.

He had wracked his brain for the past week on the journey home, trying to think of a way to contact Sheila, while hoping that she would return. He had even tried meditating, grounding himself as Sheila used to do, trying to reach out to her with his thoughts.

Now he was at the end of his patience. In desperation, he had appealed to Micula to bring him back to the olive grove where he and Sheila had once used a scrying pool to see in a distant land. If anything could show him that Sheila still lived, it would be that.

Darian watched as the unicorn lowered its horn to the standing water. Micula's eyes remained closed as she muttered strange words. He held his breath, staring at the glassy surface, willing it to cloud over.

For a moment, the clear water began to cloud, but then cleared again. Micula's brow creased in concentration and her whispers became more intense. Suddenly, Morning Star stepped out from the trees, as if she had been summoned, and dipped her horn into the water as well.

The water didn't even cloud over. One moment Darian was staring at the reflection of the afternoon sky, and the next, Sheila appeared in the reflection along with Dr. Reit.

"Well," the scientist said briskly, "magic or not, whatever you did is most remarkable."

"Thanks," Sheila said weakly.

The scientist stood up, put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, and gave Sheila a searching glance. "You look tired," he said. "I think it's best you go home right now and get some sleep."

"No!" said Sheila, sounding panicked. "You can't just send me home. I mean, I never got to find out if the unicorns are going to be okay and everything. You've got to let me go back," she said frantically. "Just for a little while."

The scientist drew himself up angrily.

"Sheila, are you asking me to reactivate the Molecular Acceleration Transport Device? After the Tracker was lost and I spent who knows how long subject to that madman Mardock? Surely, you must realize this is not a toy to be played with."

"I never thought of it as a toy," Sheila tried once more. "Please, Dr. Reit, just send me back for a little while. An afternoon maybe."

The scientist ran his hand through his frizzy white hair, and Sheila looked at him hopefully.

"I'm sorry," he said at last. "It's simply too dangerous. Now I must thank you for an extraordinary rescue and ask you to go home and get some sleep. You'll feel differently about this in the morning."

"All right," Sheila said softly. Slowly, with a longing glance back at the swirling blue, Sheila left the laboratory. As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she brushed away a tear. But then, more and more tears fell from her eyes until her face crumpled and she stopped walking, sobbing into her hands. As if she couldn't support her own weight, she sank to the ground.

Darian ached to reach out to her, to comfort her. He was ecstatic that she was safe, but he couldn't stand knowing that she was in such pain.

"Oh, Darian," she whispered.

He started at the sound of her voice whispering his name.

"I didn't want to leave you. I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry." Her misery was palpable. She looked up at the moon as if it were his face. "I love you." Her eyes closed again against her wet cheeks.

Her image faded in the pool until all he could see were the ripples in the water left by his fingers that had reached out to touch her.

"I love you too Sheila," he whispered.


End file.
